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India is currently the number one Test team in the world. Even though they have a lot of experienced cricketers in their lineup, they have managed to win only one Test series (excluding the one-off match against Afghanistan) in 2018.
They had to travel to South Africa to play the three-match Test series. After losing the two back to back close games against South Africa at Cape Town and Centurion, they ended the series with a win at Johannesburg.
India played an one-off Test at home against newcomers Afghanistan and tasted an emphatic innings victory. The expectations were high when they traveled to England to play the five-match series. Even though they played good cricket in England, they ended up losing the series by 1-4.
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After registering a 2-0 series victory against West Indies at home, India is currently playing the four-match Test series in Australia and they are close to taking a 2-1 lead at the MCG.
During 2018, Indian Test cricket has witnessed some new debutants. In order of the impact that they created, we will take a look at the players who have made their debuts for India in Tests in the calendar year.
#6 Shardul Thakur
Shardul Thakur made his Test debut against West Indies in November and had to walk off the field due to a groin injury. Thakur, who replaced Mohammed Shami in the squad, could bowl only 1.4 overs on his debut game against West Indies.
During the fourth over, Thakur landed his front foot on the crease and felt the pain immediately. After a lot of discussions in the field, the Mumbai pacer decided to walk towards the dressing room.
The right-arm pacer returned to home midway through the Asia Cup that was held in UAE after complaining a hip injury. However, he was back to Vijay Hazare Trophy and aggravated the injury again during the Test series against West Indies.
#5 Hanuma Vihari
Hanuma Vihari has an exceptional record in the first-class cricket. He has played 67 first-class games and scored 5402 runs at a massive average of 58.01, including an unbeaten knock of 302.
He has also scored 2579 runs from 64 List-A games at an average of 46.89, including four hundred and 16 fifties. His amazing performances were noticed by the Indian Test team selectors and he earned a maiden call-up to the Test team for the last two Tests against England.
Vihari made his debut in the fifth Test against England and did not fail to impress his skipper. The all-rounder from Andhra Pradesh has scored a fifty in the first innings and picked three wickets in the second innings.
He repeated the same performances and has cemented his place in the Test team. In total, Vihari has scored 125 runs at 20.83 and picked 3 wickets at 24.60 from three Test matches.
#4 Mayank Agarwal
Mayank Agarwal has an extraordinary record in first-class cricket, including a triple-century. He has played 46 FC games and 75 List A games for his state, averaging close to 50 in both.
After scoring tons of runs in the domestic circuit, the Karnataka cricketer was included in the Test squad for the series against West Indies, but he did not play.
He was named in the Test squad for the series against Australia as a replacement of Prithvi Shaw, who injured his ankle during the practice game against Cricket Australia XI.
Mayank Agarwal, who got a moment to open the innings of the second Test, did not fail to impress as he scored 76 in the first innings and 42 in the second innings.
He became the 27th Indian player to score a fifty on Test debut and became the highest run-scorer for India on debut in Australia.
#3 Prithvi Shaw
Prithvi Shaw came into the limelight with his consistent exploits in the domestic circuit. Under his captaincy, the Indian U19 team clinched the U19 World Cup that was held in New Zealand.
His impressive performances in the domestic cricket earned him a spot in the national team. He earned a maiden call-up to the Indian Test team for the last two Tests against England but he did not play in the presence of regular openers.
He was named in the Test squad for the two-match series against West Indies and got an opportunity to make his debut. Shaw became the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut when he notched up 134 from 157 deliveries at Rajkot.
The U-19 World Cup winning captain replicated the same performance in the following Test as he scored 70 and an unbeaten 33 in the first and second innings respectively.
#2 Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant made his Test debut against England and made his mark in Test cricket with a six. He registered his maiden century during the final Test of the series and became the youngest wicket-keeper and first Indian wicket-keeper to score a Test century in England.
He scored a couple of 90s during the two-match Test series against West Indies at home. The 21-year-old has been pretty consistent with the bat throughout the series against Australia as evident from his scores which read - 25, 28, 36, 30, 39 and 6*.
He has also created some records from behind the stumps. He took 11 catches in the first Test against Australia, which is most by an Indian wicket-keeper in a Test.
In 2018, he has featured in 8 games and scored 510 runs at an average of about 40 and a strike-rate of 70.5. So far, he has affected more than 40 dismissals as a wicket-keeper.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is arguably India's best bowler in all formats of the game. After his impressive performances in the limited-overs cricket, he was included in the Test squad for the series against South Africa.
He dismissed South Africa's best batsman, AB de Villiers to pick up his maiden wicket. On the third Test against South Africa, he picked up his first fifer in Tests, with figures 5/54.
Bumrah picked up his second fifer in Tests in the third match of the series against England at Trent Bridge. On the Boxing Day Test against Australia at Melbourne, he took his third five-wicket haul in Tests.
The 25-years-old became the first Asian bowler to take the fifer in South Africa, England, and Australia in the same calendar year.
Bumrah has played 9 Tests this year and scalped 45 wickets at an inspiring average of 21.24 and an economy of 2.65 and struck every 48.09 deliveries.
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